The new family of 4 - an update on our lives

I would love to say we are settling into a routine as a family of 4, but we are still in the trenches.  I am referring it as this way, because it's always the hardest in the beginning. However, having gone through the newborn stage before, I know there is an end in sight, which has done wonders for my mood and my patience.

And patience is what you need as a mom of a toddler and 5 week old baby.

So our little Weston is a needy one.  He's a sensitive little guy, who just wants to be held 24/7.  He prefers my chest for naps, and will only nap elsewhere if I put him down in a deep slumber (well that, and he will sleep in the car/stroller rides). The moby wrap has been my salvation allowing me to still get time with Jillian to get things done around the house.

Weston is gassy.  His poor digestive system is just not developed all the way yet, which makes all the eating he is doing very hard on him.  His gas is the worst at night.  I can tell when the gas comes on, because he arches his back in pain, tightens his tummy and kicks his legs.  When it comes on while nursing he will fight with my nipple, de-latch and then relatch, and scream after he eats.  It breaks my heart.  And I can't always go to him when he needs me if I am doing something for Jillian such as putting her down for a nap.

Juggling the two on my own is hard.  It's the hardest job I have ever done, and with the lack of sleep and needy baby, I have had a few meltdowns with Tim this past week.  Tim has been a huge sounding board for my frustrated temperament and has also been a huge help in trying to figure out solutions to Weston's gas issues.

Our sleeping situation hasn't been resolved yet. Weston is still co-sleeping with me, and Tim is sleeping on a blow up mattress in Weston's room.  I don't see this ending until Weston can go longer than 4 hours sleeping. Right now he awakes every 2-3 hours to eat.

Even through all of this, I am adamant about getting the three of us out of the house daily.  We have a lot of play dates. We joined a new meetup group which has been fun.  We also spend a lot of time with Lisa, John and Ava.  We do play dates to the library, the Spectrum, and tons of parks.

I think there is an inner guilty feeling on my part if Jillian doesn't get out and socialize daily.  She had it made in daycare with all of her friends, and now that I have to focus a lot of my attention on Weston, she gets the short end of the stick sometimes. That being said, we are looking into pre-school for her twice a week in the mornings. We are also considering going back to her daycare for 1 day a week.  I think she misses the interaction with her friends and would love to see Amy and her family.

With that being said, we are definitely getting through this newborn time MUCH better than we did with Jillian.  While I am still emotional at a times, it's not the baby blues. Tim and I always gave this piece of advice to new parents with their first baby "just make it to 6 weeks and it ALL gets easier from there. "

Time to take our own advice!